Van Gogh-isms

Imagine an egg white china bowl of boiled rice and pitta . It has been left out, standing for weeks, congealing. The rice is edged with black. The pitta shows a patina. Brown. Green. Dead. How could this be worth money?

But this painting, imagine: it is the most famous art work in the Western world and by far its most costly.

There is a kind of time table for the world in this painting, look this bowl of rice illustrates its major intervals.